Hello? It's a recession calling

That pesky White House phone is ringing again. Will somebody answer the darn thing already?

This time there's a (hypothetical) economic crisis. Hillary Clinton wants you to know that she would be ready to handle it.

Clinton today unveiled her second phone-themed ad of the Democratic primary race. It's similar to the infamous -- and likely successful -- ad she ran in Texas before its March 4 contest touting her national security credentials and implicitly raising questions about Barack Obama's. This ad, though, is aimed more at John McCain, whom Clinton argues is unprepared to manage the struggling American economy. It will run in Pennsylvania ahead of the state's April 22 primary.

"John McCain just said the government shouldn’t take any real action on the housing crisis. He'd let the phone keep ringing," the narrator says. "Hillary Clinton has a plan to protect our homes, create jobs. It’s 3 a.m., time for a president who's ready."

Clinton's senior strategist, Mark Penn, told reporters on a conference call that the ad was the "second in a series," implying that there are more 3 a.m. ads to come. Asked what moment in Clinton's past has demonstrated her capability to handle such an economic crisis, Clinton aides pointed to her broad life experience.

"It's not a single moment, because unless you're president you don't have a single moment like that," said Clinton's communications director, Howard Wolfson. "It is a lifetime of experience, understanding, knowledge, and background in the issues that allows you to make the kind of good decisions that a president will need to make when getting a call at 3 a.m."

The ad opens with the same images of sleeping children, but these are different than the girl in the earlier ad. It used stock footage and it inconveniently turned out that the actress had grown up and was a strong supporter of Obama.

UPDATE: McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responds: “John McCain is ready to lead with a pro-growth economic plan to lower taxes, cut government spending, empower America's entrepreneurs and get our economy back on track. Americans can’t afford the Democrats' liberal agenda to raise taxes, nationalize health care, cut off trade, and crush the economy under big government.”

UPDATE: The Republican National Committee comes up with a missive more apropos of the ad: "Plans to raise taxes, increase spending, nationalize health care, cut off foreign markets, and give government bureaucrats more taxpayer money to play with isn't good for the economy at 3 a.m., 3 p.m., or any other hour of the day."